War of the Doctor
by alchemypotato
Summary: Fic about The War Doctor picking up immediately after "Night of the Doctor."
1. Chapter 1 - The Historian

The man who was The Doctor no more walked through the wreckage of the ship that had been crashed by a woman named Cass not long before. He had failed to save her but he was no longer that man. The Sisterhood of Karn had saved The Doctor and helped to give birth to this new man. The Doctor had asked to become a warrior but even now after his regeneration he questioned what a warrior truly was. A doctor was a healer and a helper. A warrior was a fighter and a destroyer. The man who was The Doctor no longer felt like a doctor but he didn't exactly feel like a warrior yet either.

He was still wearing the clothing of his previous incarnation and also a bandolier that had, before her death, belonged to Cass. He felt like a fraud. Putting on her bandolier had served as a dramatic gesture but in truth it was meaningless and hollow. He couldn't just declare himself a warrior.

In the middle of the wreckage he found what he was looking for. To his surprise his TARDIS to his stood seemingly unharmed, but he knew that couldn't possibly be the case. The TARDIS must have repaired itself, much as he had also repaired himself. He dug the key out of a pocket and quietly unlocked the door. The TARDIS had indeed changed itself. The old desktop theme had been a bit homier but he thought this look (including roundels) would do fine. He didn't need a home now; he needed a weapon and the TARDIS could be a powerful weapon, if he chose to use it as such.

The Time War was threatening to burn the entire universe to ash and neither the Time Lords nor the Daleks cared. The man who was The Doctor no more hadn't always been on the best terms with his people, in fact often he found he didn't care for them at all. But the passion with which they fought this war had still shocked him. And the Daleks, well, nothing about their role in all this shocked him. They would destroy everything that existed until only they remained and then they would likely destroy themselves too.

So The Doctor who was no more was faced with a war on two fronts. He must find a way to destroy the Daleks completely and somehow find a way to slow the Time Lord's own onslaught before they brought the universe down with them. While he contemplated what his first move should be he found the wardrobe and changed into clothing that he felt better suited a warrior, most notably covering himself in a leather overcoat but he chose to keep the bandolier, as a token symbol that he was not The Doctor.

The Doctor no more decided to visit a friend, one of the few he still had among the Time Lords, The Historian. The Historian would no doubt be found at Great Library in Arcadia. It only took the TARDIS a moment to arrive there. Even though Arcadia was the safest place on Gallifrey he wasn't surprised to see the Great Library empty. The Great Library was the second largest library ever constructed. The largest of course being a planet sized library that was simply called "The Library".

The Doctor no more wandered through the Great Library's many halls for awhile before he finally found The Historian almost literally buried in a pile of books. The books around her all seemed to be about various wars the Time Lords had played a role in since the beginning of their civilization. He watched her for a moment as she seemed deeply focused in a particular ancient text when she said without even glancing up at him, "Hello, Doctor."

The Doctor was startled by tried not to show it. "How did you know it was me?"

"You've changed," she said and looked up at him. The Historian had very short dark hair and wore horn-rimmed glasses. Rather than wearing traditional Gallifreyan garments she wore an old brown tweed suit. The Doctor had never cared for traditional Gallifreyan garments himself.

"And one might think that would lead you to believe I am not The Doctor," he responded.

The Historian smirked and shook her head while pulling herself up from the books. "Well, then who are you?" He wasn't sure he had a good answer. The Historian raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Well, Doctor, if I may call you that for simplicities sake, how can I help you?"

With a grim look on his face he said, "Tell me how to win a war."

The Historian adjusted her glasses and shook her head, walking away. "Shouldn't you find a general to speak with? I've heard we have loads of blood thirsty generals. Surely, one of them could spare a moment of destroying innocent lives to give you some pointers."

"That's exactly it. I can't speak to any general about this. I need someone who knows about war but has no desire to be a part of it."

The Historian turned around slowly. "You've seen war. You've seen far more war than I have."

The Doctor no more nodded in agreement but said, "Yes. Yes I have. But never one involving our own people."

The Historian thought for a moment. "Okay," she finally said. "I'll tell you everything I know. Although, I promise once you've heard it you'll wish you hadn't. I've done deep research for centuries and I have dug up secrets the Time Lords wish to keep buried."

And so she lead the man who was The Doctor no more to her quiet office and by candle light she spilled the secret history of Time Lord war. A great deal he already knew but so many details had been changed or outright hidden. And The Historian was right: The Doctor was beginning to wish he hadn't asked to hear these things. Not because he couldn't face the truth, but because he couldn't face what the truth really mean. The Doctor knew that someday he would be forced to come up against his own people and he hope he would have the courage to make the right choice when that day finally came.


	2. Chapter 2 - Virus

"Well, Doctor, this is a mess we're in now," The Historian said scowling. Chained up in a Dalek holding cell it was hard to believe a century had passed since The Doctor (who still cringed when she called him that) had showed up at the Great Library for information the wars the Time Lords had participated in. The Doctor had insisted she join him as a companion (of a sort) and help him fight his war. The rest felt like an unending blur of terror as they did all they could to manipulate the Time Lords and stop the Daleks. They hadn't been successful and the Time Lords had caught onto their subterfuge.

While fleeing the Time Lords they were ambushed by a Dalek ship. The TARDIS and The Doctor came out fine but she had regenerated. It was her first time. At five-hundred years old she had been relatively young for a Time Lord. Her short brown hair had become long red hair (to which The Doctor had grumbled something about being ginger) and she was a bit taller. She was amazed how she felt like herself but not entirely like herself. This incarnation felt a little less friendly and a bit more... determined.

The Doctor turned to her with a scowl on his face. "Don't you trust me?"

She sighed and answered, "Yes. Of course I do. But you must admit this is hasn't been your most successful plan."

"I will not admit that because it's not true."

The Historian shook her head. The plan was to sabotage a few Dalek ships before they returned to the fleet. Once back in the fleet a virus of The Doctor's making would upload to all the ships in the vicinity (literally thousands) and all their weapons would begin firing at any ship in sight. In a matter of minutes the Dalek fleet would be wiped out. It wasn't the best or most elegant plan The Doctor had ever conceived. But as he would point out, he wasn't The Doctor anymore. He was another man walking around in The Doctor's shoes, living out one of his incarnation's lives.

The real problem had turned out to be that these ships weren't part of the normal fleet but part of a new group of Daleks that had turned against the rest. In the middle of the Time War civil war had erupted within the Daleks. Of course this wasn't the first time the Daleks had fought amongst themselves.

This group of Daleks believed they were the true pure Daleks and considered the rest of the fleet (who remained loyal to their creator Davros) unworthy of the name Dalek. The Historian personally care which Daleks were more pure; any Dalek was a bad Dalek.

So not only had they been caught but their plan to wipe out the Dalek fleet was no longer going to work. But The Doctor was always planning something... at least she thought he was. Sometimes she didn't believe he had a plan until the very moment he put it into action. And sometimes she thought he was a hundred steps ahead of everyone.

The door to their cell opened and a gold plated Dalek entered. "The Doctor and his companion will come before the Dalek general," the Dalek electronically droned. The chains holding them released and reluctantly they followed the Dalek down a long corridor.

Finally, they were brought before the general who was not really much different in appearance from the other Daleks except that he was up on a platform over looking the other Daleks who were gathered around.

The Historian had faced many Daleks before and had seen the terrors they were capable of and where the site of one once invoked fear it now only made her feel rage. The Doctor on the other hand seemed a bit more casual although still deadly serious.

For a moment the Dalek general didn't move, its eyestalk firmly set on The Doctor.

The Doctor turned to The Historian and said, "Apparently, the Dalek's intend to defeat me in a staring contest."

"The Doctor will be silent!" the Dalek general said. "Today the true Daleks have defeated the Dalek's greatest enemy."

"A little premature wouldn't you say?" The Doctor asked.

"The Dalek's have the TARDIS! The Daleks have The Doctor and his companion." The Historian scoffed at being called his companion again. She was every bit his equal even if she wasn't as famous.

"If you kill me now you will have defeated yourselves. Let me live and I can help you defeat those impure Daleks that follow Davros."

The Historian was appalled. "Doctor? What are you talking about?"

The Doctor gave The Historian a severe look. "It is okay, my friend. This is war and we do what we have to."

"Yes, we do what we have to. But not this. I stop short at helping the Daleks."

The Doctor walked up to her and whispered, "Would you rather have the smaller Dalek separatists to contend with or the rest of the damned Dalek army under Davros?"

"I understand Doctor, I do. But not the Daleks. There has to be a line and this is one I never thought you would cross," she whispered back.

"Maybe you are mistaking me for someone else," he said and backed away and faced the general. "I will give you a virus to wipe out an entire Dalek fleet. You only need let me and my friend go."

The general studied The Doctor with his eyestalk. It was all a question if whether the Daleks hated the "impure" Daleks or The Doctor more.

"The Doctor will give the Daleks this virus," the general said at last.

"Doctor," The Historian said quietly. Again, The Doctor glared at her.

The Doctor held out a small computer chip and said, "Take this. It has the virus. Once we are on board the TARDIS and safely away from the ship I will tell you how to spread it to the fleet." The Historian was filled with rage and disappointment. Maybe he really wasn't The Doctor anymore.

The Daleks took the chip and escorted the pair back to the TARDIS. "After you've done this, Doctor, I want nothing more to do with you. What makes you any better than the other Time Lords?"

"Do what you wish, Historian. I'm doing what I have to," The Doctor said as they entered the TARDIS. Without speaking The Doctor took the TARDIS away from the ship. He then opened a communication channel with the Daleks.

The Dalek general was on the screen and said, "The Doctor will tell the Daleks how to use the virus."

"Huh?" The Doctor said seemingly bewildered. "Oh. The Virus. Well, you're already using it actually. I've just transmitted it to you. Goodbye." The Doctor closed the channel and on the view screen The Historian watched as the Dalek ships obliterated each other. She turned to look at The Doctor who was already navigating the TARDIS to some other location.

"Do you still wish to leave? I can drop you back off at the library, if you'd like."

"I don't understand, Doctor."

"Don't you?" He asked. "I did what I had to. I'm just glad I had that scrap metal in my pocket."

"But the fleet remains," The Historian said.

"Well, we still have the virus. Although it's likely they'll stumble upon the wreckage and find out what happened."

"But you had a chance to destroy them all."

"No, I didn't. The Dalek fleet would've blasted these Daleks on sight. This was the only way."

The Historian studied The Doctor for a moment.

"Whatever you say, you're still him. You're The Doctor."

The Doctor had a grim look about him. "There may come a time, my dear friend, when you no longer believe that."


End file.
